Chapter 3 – The U.S. Constitution

#1 Creating the Constitution

Essential QuestionEssential Question:–What compromises were needed in

order to create the U.S. Constitution?

Warm-Up Question:Warm-Up Question:–Use the image on the next slide to

answer these questions:• How is the American government How is the American government organized? organized?

• Why do you think our government Why do you think our government is organized like this?is organized like this?

What are the important features of American government under the Constitution?

Use this image to search for clues:

How is the American government organized?

Why do you think our government is organized like this?

Constitutional Convention, 1787The Articles of Confederation were

intentionally weak in order to protect state & individual liberties–But, the inability of the national

gov’t to tax & unify the states led to problems like Shays’ Rebellion

–A Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia in 1787 to discuss ways to strengthen the power of the national gov’t

The Philadelphia ConventionIn May 1787, 55 delegates met in

Philadelphia, but instead of revising the Articles of Confederation, they replaced it with the Constitution

The new Constitution was very different from the AOC:–It gave more power to the

national government–It had 3 branches of gov’t,

rather than 1 weak congress

The national gov’t under the Constitution would have new features & powers that

the Articles of Confederation did not have

The national gov’t would have a president & a Supreme Court

Congress would have the power to tax & coin money

The delegates at the convention had to negotiate a series of compromise in order to agree on a framework for government

Many of these compromises dealt with how representatives would be chosen from the states to serve in Congress

Representation in CongressNew Jersey PlanNew Jersey Plan:–A unicameral

(one-house) congress

–States are equally represented just like the AOC

–No president

Virginia PlanVirginia Plan:–A bicameral

(two-house) congress

–Larger states have more representatives

–Adding a president as national leader

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The Great CompromiseThe Great CompromiseGreat Compromise resolved

the differences between the large & small states by creating a bicameral Congress:

–Senate: Each state has 2 reps who serve 6-year terms

–House of Representatives: Number of reps is determined by each state’s population

Victory for the small states

Victory for large states

What did Congress look like after the

Great Compromise?

The 3/5 Compromise Northern & Southern states could

not agree whether or not to count slaves towards population size

If slaves are counted, Southern states would have more reps

The Three-Fifths CompromiseThree-Fifths Compromise settled the issue:–Three of five slaves would be

counted toward representation in the House of Representatives

Compromising with SlaveryMany Northerners wanted to use

the Constitutional Convention to end slavery, but Southerners threatened to leave the USA anytime slavery was discussed

As a compromise for the South, the slave trade could continue for 20 more years & runaway slaves would be returned to slave masters

“Great as the evil is, a dismemberment of the Union would be worse.”

—James Madison

James Madison helped negotiate many of the compromises that made the

Constitution possible & is referred to as the “father of the Constitution”

Closure Activity Examine the 3 compromises

from today’s activity:

–“Great Compromise”

–“Three-Fifths Compromise”

–“Slavery Compromise”Rank order these compromises

from most important to least important & explain why